First Commercial Harvesting of Jara honey

For the first time ever, twenty Jara producers have sold their entire crop of Jara to a commercial enterprise. Jara honey will soon be available in shops in Georgia.

See photos below. 

11/07/2017

On 7^th of July, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Women’s Rooms and the Gender Equality Council of Supreme Council of Ajara Autonomous Republic. According to the MOU, the Council will work with municipalities through the WRs to raise public awareness of gender and increase women’s participation in the decision-making processes. The Gamgebelis and other municipality representatives attended the ceremony and supported the idea.

“The Women’s Rooms have become one of the main powers in ensuring gender equality in the municipalities. The MOU aims to continue and strengthen our cooperation with the WRs and fulfill the mission of increasing women’s participation in the public sector”- Nino Chkhetia, the Chairwoman of the Gender Equality Council.

20/06/2017

On 16^th of June, the premiere of Jara was held in Batumi for the local governmental and non-governmental sector, funded and organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Ajara Autonomous Republic. The decision-makers of the region attended the screening: the Chairman of the Ajara Autonomous Republic, the local Ministers of Agriculture, Education and Health; the Mayor of Batumi, the representatives of Department of Tourism and Resorts of Ajara, municipalities and international organizations.

The film was received with great interest and applauses. Two main actors of the movie, who are also local residents and beekeepers themselves, were gifted with the modern honey extractor by the Minister of Agriculture.

09/06/2017

The First Lady of Georgia Maka Chichua visited Bolnisi municipality’s educational- rehabilitation center for children with disabilities. While there she also received information about Bolnisi’s Municipally run Women’s Room, a service providing consultation and linkages to resources for local rural inhabitants. The First Lady was hosted by the Governor of Kvemo Kartli Grigol Nemsadze and the Gamgebeli of Bolnisi Municipality Davit Sherazadishvili. The Alliances Caucasus Programme who facilitated the inception of the rooms now present in 17 rural municipalities and two cities in Georgia was invited and highlighted the pertinence of the service to the supporting the initiative of the First Lady.

08/06/2017

Three local women have been employed by the Association for Each Other through Keda municipality Women’s Room. The women will conduct a survey about the people with disabilities in every administrative unit and village of the municipality.  

“The Women’s Room has given me an opportunity to get my own income. It’s temporary, but I think it will be the beginning of my active social life. This experience will give me new skills and become more involved in the local activities, I want to use this chance and make new linkages“. – says Mari Baramidze, one of the employed wom

16/05/2017

The Spring transhumance of the annual movement million heads of livestock has recently started. Georgian Shepherds will benefit from two new Bio Security Points in Dedoplistskaro and Signagi in addition to existing points in Marneuli and Rustavi municipalities. All four BSPs are in full operational mode ready to serve nomadic farmers. EU standard infrastructure, duly equipped specialists hired by the NFA and the special chemicals for treating animals against parasites - are in place to ensure health control of migrated livestock. A special certificate is also issued for farmers proving the livestock was treated against external parasites. 

Two more BSPs in Telavi and Bolnisi municipalities funded by the government of Georgia are now underway and will be finished by the end of 2017.

31/03/2017

'Jara' has been premiered on 30^th of March with great success. More than 400 representatives from the regional and central government, the non-governmental sector, the donor organizations gave standing ovations and applauses to the film makers and artists.

‘The film is shot in a professional manner. It is astonishing and wild to see. I have no idea how the crew has managed to shoot the bears and wolves. The special tribute should be paid to the composer of the film’s original soundtracks. It should be seen by as many people as possible: melancholy of the season changings, music and just amazing views of the wild nature, never seen in the daily lives’ – Dima Pursanov.

24/03/2020

Amidst the negative news and stories of unthinking behaviour, some stories have emerged globally of people and business who have responded to the crisis with kindness and generosity. These stories fill all of us with a sense of hope and comfort in our ability to work together. So we are delighted to be able to share the stories of some of the ALCP clients who have been contributing to the common good over the past week: Roki Ltd, the largest veterinary input supplier and producer in Georgia, has started the production of a new hand sanitizer Septer as a response to increased demand. Supplies sold out in a day to banks, the Ministry of Education and clinics and there is a new order for four tonnes of Septer from the government. The company closely cooperated with the government in developing the product trying to use its resources for the benefit of all; A GMM cheese distributor has organized the collection of cheese from eleven Georgian Milk Mark dairies: Milkeni, Tsintskaro +, Cheese Hut, Shuamta, Tvisis Kveli, Tsifora –Samtkhe, Tsezari, Coop. Khiza, Coop. Disveli, Teleti Ltd and distributed it to theInfectious Diseases and AIDS Center in Tbilisi to support medical staff during the outbreak; GMM dairy Tsipora Ltd in Samtkhe-Javakheti has supplied cheese to the Abastumani Lung Center. Tsivis Kveli Ltd Kakheti brought cheese to the hotel Chateau Mere in Kakheti - for those under quarantine;   The Georgian Beekeepers Union initiated the collection of honey from local beekeepers across the country to supply people in vulnerable groups. The KTW group offered the government the use of their forty-one rooms hotel-complex Akhasheni Wine Resort &Spa, for arranging a quarantine zone in Kakheti region. 

16/03/2020

In a country first, eighteen Jara beekeepers in Ajara have received Bio certification. Jara honey was not even commercially harvested and branded until 2018, however the market for the honey has proved its strength so successfully that the beekeepers saw the opportunity to further promote their product through bio certification.   The conversion was relatively simple and certainly achievable as Jara honey is based on the capture of wild swarms and is relatively hands off. Since November 2018, the Jara Beekeepers Association (JBA) has been facilitating training and on-site recommendations; it also provides treatment of hives with a Bio vet medicine and special equipment for the mentioned Jara beekeepers. The beekeepers now follow the bio requirements; including keeping records, better husbandry, use of bio vet medicine. This allowed for smooth journey through the minimum one-year conversion period for certification. Caucascert, the only organic certification company in Georgia issued the internationally recognized Bio certificates after laboratory results and field checks, which did not show any incompliance. ‘I am very proud that I was able to get Bio certification. It was challenging, as I did not have any kind of information before, but support from the JBA was crucial. I can already see the outcomes, because the process already contributed to minimizing disease risk and increase productivity of a Jara hive by thirty percent’ – Bio certified Jara beekeeper from Keda municipality. Six more Jara beekeepers, including the Jara apiary in the Goderdzi Alpine Garden, are currently undergoing the certification process and might obtain certification by the end of this year. The Jara honey mark was registered in February, 2020 and both its production and the market for it, including export is growing. More details on Jara honey to be found on www.jarahoney.com.

21/02/2020

As part of  the agreement which allows Georgian Honey to be exported to the EU, the government annually carries out a Residue Monitoring survey.  Worryingly high residues of prohibited antibiotics were found in previous years (see infographic below).  2019 however saw  national information campaign carried by the Georgian Beekeepers Union, who developed and disseminated Do’s and Don’ts Antibiotic Use Infographic and facilitated breakthrough legislation adopted by the Government of Georgia, which prohibits registration of the beekeeping vet medicines containing restricted antibiotics, among others. As a result, this year, only eight percent of honey samples tested positive for prohibited substances, compared to fifty-four percent of the last year, according to the Residue Monitoring Plan results, made by the National Food Agency in the BIOR laboratory in Riga, Latvia. It is a significant achievement for Georgian honey export opportunities and expanding markets.